Engel scores first DTM win in Moscow

The Sunday race at Moscow Raceway saw DTM returnee Maro Engel winning for the first time in his career in the international touring car series. In a race that was dominated by intense duels and numerous overtaking maneuvers, the Mercedes driver remained in control and laid the foundation for victory with an early pit stop.

There was also joy for Mattias Ekstrom. The Audi driver finished second and thus reclaimed the lead in the drivers' standings. After 36 laps, Bruno Spengler finished third with his BMW M4 DTM.

"I was surprised to see the checkered flag. I wasn't aware that the race was already over," race winner Engel admitted. In 2009, one sixth place was his best DTM race result to date. "These were the longest laps in my career."

Not without reason because Ekstrom came to the fore in the closing stages of the race, overtook one driver after another and considerably mixed up the order behind Engel. In the early part of the race, things didn't look good for Ekstrom, who had started from the front row of the grid. The safety car was deployed after an excursion from Maxime Martin on lap 5. That particularly favored those drivers who had already made their pit stop at that time: Engel, Wittmann, Duval and Blomqvist.

In the final part of the race, the Swede worked his way up and was rewarded for his spirited drive with second place and the lead in the drivers' standings.

"This was a crazily wild race," said Blomqvist, who moved one point ahead of fourth-placed Audi driver René Rast (112 points) in the drivers’ standings. "Congratulations to Maro, he deserved this win. I only needed one more lap, then I probably would have caught him."

Spengler came third at Moscow Raceway, having already scored five podium finishes in Russia. The Canadian used his chance in the turbulent closing stages and claimed third place that his fellow BMW driver Marco Wittmann held for a long time.

"That really was a tough race today – a big fight and good racing!" Wittmann, who initially seemed to be on course for victory, had to hand the lead to Engel on lap 23 and dropped back to sixth with degrading tires.

Mike Rockenfeller was seventh at the checkered flag, but the stewards found that the Team Phoenix Audi driver had exceeded the maximum of 12 DRS activations allowed in the race, and gave the 2013 champion a five-second time penalty that dropped him to 13th position.

After a four-week summer break, the DTM is racing at Zandvoort Aug. 19-20. The circuit in the dunes will serve as the venue for the 11th and 12th races of the season.